Department of trend-spotting
Seen in Lincoln Park lately: this Container Store market tote, which is basically a high-end, personal version of the baskets that you pick up in the grocery store when you are not getting enough stuff to justify a shopping cart.
When I first started seeing them, my pathetically baby-centric brain assumed that they must be some sort of infant carrier.
But, as they've proliferated, it's become clear that they are used for toting around multiple errand purchases and farmer's market buys.
This strikes me as somewhat bizarre, since I've always hated the ones you can get in the grocery store (if you happen to be buying, let's say, orange juice and milk, the thing quickly becomes absurdly heavy and awkward) and I can't imagine deciding that I need to have one of my very own.
Aren't backpacks and shoulder bags infinitely easier to carry around?
Still, as a serious neat freak, my devotion to the Container Store (a place I approach with reverence) remains such that I can't completely dismiss the market tote. I keep thinking that it must have some virtue that I'm missing.
I'm willing to admit that I'm wrong on these things -- the Crocs are really comfortable, dammit -- so I am open to being educated about the benefits of paying $30 for what is, essentially, an open picnic basket made of canvas.
